Erised
by Lady Annaline
Summary: Hermione knows war is soon to break out and looks for one last comfort, rumoured to be hidden at Hogwarts, though she doesn't expect another to arrive as well


**Disclaimer: Do not own Harry Potter**

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><p>She crept through the corridors silently, Harry's cloak forcing her to stoop uncomfortably lest her ankles be seen in the gap between her ankles and the floor.<p>

_It wasn't so hard to fit under here 5 years ago, _her mind told her. She stayed off a sigh. There were a lot of things that were a lot easier to do back when they were innocent first years. Back when it was all just a game rather than the terrifying war that it had become.

She reached the door that guarded the room, her destination. The place in which it had been heard rumoured to be hidden. It hadn't been easy to locate, and she had taken a large portion of time referencing with both the marauders map and Hogwarts: A History before she felt confident enough to try and make the journey on her own. But she was here now.

She took a deep breath and removed the cloak, letting it fall to a pile on the floor. The door was of burnished red oak and was nothing remarkable in the medieval castle that was her home, a place where the most elaborate of furnishings were considered common place. It was a luxury she assumed that not many people fully appreciated. She pushed lightly on the door. It was locked.

This in itself wasn't surprising, but what was astonishing was the ease in which she opened did open the entrance. It was the simple Alohomora spell that Dumbledore favoured so. The spell he decided to put between a savage Cerebus and three innocent children all those years ago.

She stepped inside and closed the panel behind her, before stepping properly into the room. There were steps leading down, drawing her eyeline, then... There it was, covered by a sheet with the moonlight shining in through a hole in the ceiling – a white spotlight. The Mirror of Erised.

She mused on the jealousy that she had felt back in her first year when she had heard that both Harry and Ron had been able to look at such a fascinating object. She'd had an irrational longing to look into it since that time, but now the craving seemed even worse. They were going to war next year. The boys and the rest of the Order tried to skirt around that fact, but it was true. She knew what was to happen.

They were going to find the Horcruxes – She, Harry, and Ron. They would split off from the others, alone, and remain as such until they were all destroyed. She choked back a sob as she looked into the mirror.

She knew what she would have to do to her parents. She understood the heinous acts she may have to commit in order to survive. And the final battle, the ones she might lose – Harry, Ron, Ginny, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Fred, George, Remus, Tonks, Professor McGonagall – the list was endless.

Her eyes took in the tear blurred outline of her first year self in the mirror, flanked by Ron and Harry, all with smiles on their faces and an innocence in their eyes.

She didn't turn when she heard the door catch. She heard the almost inaudible catch of breath as he saw her, but curiously, he didn't try to leave. They stood silently, sharing in the sorrow of recognition of the future. No longer a teacher and student, but two Order members, two soldiers waiting for war.

It was she who finally decided to break the silence "What do you see?"

He didn't answer and she froze as she felt the aura of his pain wash over her. After a moment of deliberation, she turned, looking into his bottomless black eyes from across the room, filled with pain that even his occlumency shields couldn't hide. Or perhaps he wanted her to see it, a proof to one more person that he was human regardless of what the others might say.

It were almost as though he hadn't heard her words as he walked over to her with the grace of a panther, or some other big cat. He peered into the mirror and considered his words with shining eyes.

"I see… her" The baritone of his voice hypnotised her into not asking for any elaboration. Instead, she sat on the cold stone step in front of the glass, for him to join her only moments later. His arm went around her and she leant against his shoulder, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

The warmth filled her until all she could hear were their hearts beating in tandem, and his soft breathing in her hair. "Do you think we shall win?" she asked softly and he pulled away slightly

"I do not know" he said, his hand moving to his left forearm and his eyes becoming unreadable again. She looked stricken at the change in his expression and he chuckled softly as he moved a lock of hair from her face. She felt her face flush and saw his characteristic smirk as a response.

She smiled bashfully and when he offered, she snuggled back into his embrace, both pretending the outside world didn't exist as they gazed into the mirror until the dawn lit the stone.

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><p><strong>It may seem slightly out of character, but I can imagine this happening, before Dumbledore dies, and the entire world goes completely mad. This small private moment looking into the mirror. It is supposed to occur in the middle of Hermione's sixth year - I don't know if I made it clear. Anyway - just a short little half an hour fic, that I shall probably slide into my full length one - Butterflies and Hurricanes!<strong>

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